Fastener inserting devices



July 26, 1960 s. R. HOPKINS 2,946,420

FASTENER msERTING DEVICES Filed March 19, 1958 46 A @Wa-1 FASTENER .INSERTING DEVICES Shirley Russell Hopkins, Iieicester, England; assigner t0 United;ShoeiMachinery.Corporation,V Flemington, NJ., a.corporaton1of"New.Jersey:

rned'Mar. 19; 195s; ser. No. 721,489; Glai'ms priority, applicatiomGeatfBritain Apr; 25;.1-957.y

s claims.. (ci. 19a-4s) This invention. relates to fastener-handling and moreparticularly to machines'whichA orient or alignfasteners with respect totheirends and then feedthealigned'fastem ers one'at a-time tol remotely located automatic insertingtools. Atypical machine'of-ithistypefinclndes'mecha nism for transferringfasteners from a'- hopper, in-which they areplaced in randomly oriented fashion, to"l aedown'- wardly inclined racewaylinwhich they slide, orientediwithl respect to' their ends, to its lowerend; At the lowerend.

there-is mechanism` for separating: fasteners one atta timeA from thefraceway and conveying. them tofaA remotely. 1ct;-y cated inserting tool.

This type of machine is generally provided'with. means. for clearing and. ejectingY improperly oriented' fastenersv from the raceway before they reach yits lower end or2 the.'

point where theyare individually separated; One such machine is. shown in'United'StatesrLetters'; Patent;No;.V 2.819,45, issuedilanuary 14; 195.8 to Donald-JB.' Mcilvint..

in. which the clearing; andV ejecting mechanismais a notata ingl wheel'. While this wheel-i.` is. effective. in clearing jammed' fasteners from thezlower: and'. middle portions.

of the.v raceway it is. not` effectivey in'. clearing, fasteners jammed in theiupperportiong. i.e.,.,remote-from the-area: inv whichr the ejector wheel1 and; the separating mecha-V In accordance with these objects: and 4asafeature of.v

this invention there is provided'. a hopper for. holding a supply of randomly oriented fasteners and.- meansfr elevating fasteners from `theho-pperto a. downwardly inclined raceway. Thefasteners 4slide. downwardly inthe raceway, becoming oriented withprespect to' their ends.

Automaticv means are provided ffor directing an inter# mittent blast of air to clear. jammed or improperly aligned fasteners from the raceway. The means for directing the air blast includes a valve operated by and int1med "se'v quence, with the movement of the elevating. mechanlsm;

It suppl-ies air to a jet which is directed upwardly'of" the raceway, i.e., opposing, the downward direction of movement of the fasteners. An abutmentisspaced above' theraceway an amount suicient to permit only uniformly oriented.' fasteners to pass down the raceway and has' a deilecting surface engageable with improperly oriented fasteners orV those whichV pass down the raceway askew to deect them back into the.v hopper: The abutment andtthe air jet cooperate to dislodge improperlyoriented fasteners from theraceway in the tarea adjacentltlie abutmentandY at allpo-rtions of the raceway'thereabove and deliect them back into the hopper.

These'and other Yfeatures' of the# invention including: various` novel details of constructionf'andl combinations Patented July ze, 1960.

ofpartswill now be moreparticularly describedwith reference to the'accompanyingV drawingsandtpointed out.

inthe claims;

In the drawings; Fig. l'is a-side-elevationofra fastener 'handling machine embodyingthe presentk invention; and

Fig. 2 is` a silghtly enlarged'view'ofithe left-handfportion of themachine andv taken in the direction'of the arrown Fig; l.

The general organization of'fastener `handlingmachines-' embodylngl the invention: is 'shown inFig. 1i.- A- hopper ltlifor holdingf a supply of randomlyl oriented fasteners-,-

such as nails, screws for* the like, is secured'to' amain suitable support. Forming one side ofthe hopper is anelevating mechanism `13. for lifting fastenersV from@ the hopper and: deliveringV them to a'downwardlyinclined;A slottedraceway. 14 alongwhichfthe fasteners slidefzinA ai.

uniformly aligned relationship suspended by their'h'earls; The: hoppen, elevating;mechanism` and race. .way-i are; identical'. withthose disclosed. in :thel aboveementioned- McIlvin/.z

patent. andl are'herein describedV only briey; Thev elevate ing mechanismcomprises. a plurality ofv lift slides Maconi nectedby a rod 18 to an air motor ZilvvhichV is controlled*v bya valve 22. for reciprocating-the slides vertically'. Se-

cured-to the vframe mand-mounted atv the lower end offthev downwardly inclined raceway 14T is a separating andfeeding mechanism 24v which separatesthe. endmost fastenerl from those inthe raceway andf delivers l it under pressure. through adelivery tube.26to an inserting tool; such as a pneumatic nail or screw driving gun, inresponse to.. a..

The separating. mechanism.. 24. isy

signal. from. .the tool. l v pneumaticallyy operated,. being connected to the. same sourceof pressurized. air asy are the insertingtool and'.

thermotor Zilwhichoperates the lift slides 1761 The raceway 1'4 comprises a-.pair of'parallel plates 28 and. 30` (Fig. 2). spaced apart a` distance less than the diameter. ofV the heads of the fasteners but greater than theirv shank diameters. The lift slides 16`el`evate fasteners from the. bottom of the hopper 10v and4 deliver them to the -upper portion of the lraceway 1'4, whereupon they become oriented by sliding downwardly `of the raceway with their heads supported by the raceway platesand` their Shanks depending therebetween.- A raceway cover member 352'isl spaced above the lower portion of the race'- way plates 28 and 3'0'an amount just. suflici'ent tope'rmit the heads of supported' fasteners to pass therebeflow; The member. 32' is adjustably" securedby screw and'slot connections 34' to a blockv 36 secured to a portion- 38 of"Y the machine frame. As seen in Fig. 1, the spacing between the upper surface ofthe raceway plates 28d-and 30 andv the raceway' covermenibei" 32 is.n such' that properly oriented fasteners may slide" down the' raceway past' thev member 32Std the separating mechanism' 24 While fasten# ers' sliding down the raceway/incorrectly aligned or' lying' askewrel'ative'to theraceway'will be vengaged byt'h'e'end face 40 of the member`32` which'for'ms an'abutrent for" improperly orient'edfastene'rs. The face 40i's' formed on an angle'of approximately 45 with the raceway which assists in deecting' improperly oriented fasteners back' into the hopper 10 in a manner' hereinafter to be de-` scribed. The specific angle of the face 40` is not critical however.

Secured tothe raceway plate 30fadjacent the upper end ofthecover'member 32 is a block 42 in which is formed an air passageway 44.v Threaded in the block"42 an'd communicating withY the passageway' 44" isfa liftingV` 46' which isY connected to an air supply pipe 48- leading from" aA valve 502 The valve 505 communicates with a' s'ource of compressed air and' includesAv a pliinger' S'Z'fpo'sitioned directlyv below a cutaway portion-54" ofv oneof the lift'f" slides 162 Thelplunger- 52 Awhich act'st against? atv-springA (not shown) within the valve operates alternately to open and close the valve 50 permitting compressed air to ow in pulses through the air supply pipe 48 to the air passageway 44 each time the lift slides are reciprocated.

The passageway 44 is formed in the biock 42 substantially normal to the end of the abutment surface 4G of the cover member 32 and is arranged to direct a blast of air at an acute angle with the upper surfaces of the raceway plates 28 and 30, these plates being inclined, as seen in Fig. l, and the passageway 44 being substantially horizontal. The cooperative arrangement between the passageway 44 and the raceway is such that part of the air owing from the passageway 44 passes between the plates 2S and 30 toward their upper end. Some of the air also Hows from under the lower surface of the member 32 and over the plates 23 and 36 toward the hopper causing any fastener resting on the upper surface of the raceway plates or against the abutment face 4i) to be deflected back into the hopper. All of the air, however, ilows in a direction which is in opposition to the normal downward direction of movement of fasteners in the raceway.

As the lift slides begin to move upwards, the cut out portion S4 moves out of contact with the plunger 52 permitting the valve 50 to close whereupon the air flowing through the passageway 40 ceases. As the lift slides reach the top of their stroke, fasteners are delivered to the upper portion of the raceway and proceed to slide downwardly thereof, Vthe vast majority of the fasteners passing in oriented fashion beneath the lower surface of the member 32. However, improperly oriented fasteners engage the face 40 and are deflected back into the hopper 10. Any fastener not so returned to the hopper may impede the movement of properly oriented fasteners. Furthermore, improperly oriented fasteners may also jam in the upper portion of the raceway remote from the face 40, as for example, temporarily lodged against a piece of dirt or metallic chip between the raceway plate. As the lift slides again reach the bottom of their stroke, a blast of air is again directed through the passageway 44 causing any fasteners which have not been deflected back into the hopper 10 by the face 40 to do so. At the same time, some of the air travels up the raceway between the plates 2S and 3E) and any fasteners jammed in the upper portion of the raceway remote from the face 40 become dislodged, some times sufliciently to be returned to the hopper and some times to be enabled to slide downwardly toward tne separating mechanism when the blast ceases, either of which is a desirable result.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an apparatus for transferring headed fasteners and the like, an inclined raceway for supporting fasteners for downward sliding movement with their heads uniformly oriented with respect to each other, and means for rejecting improperly oriented fasteners from said raceway including means for directing a iiow of air opposite to the movement of said fasteners.

2. In an apparatus for transferring headed fasteners and the iike, an inclined raceway for supporting fasteners for downward sliding movement with their heads uniformly oriented with respect to each other, means for rejecting improperly oriented fasteners from said raceway including a jet located adjacent the lower portion of said raceway for directing a flow of air opposite to the movement of said fasteners, and means for delivering an intermittent flow of air to said jet.

3. In an apparatus for transferring headed fasteners and the like, an inclined raceway for supporting fasteners for downward sliding movement with their heads uniformly oriented with respect to each other, means for rejecting improperly oriented fasteners from said raceway including an abutment spaced above said raceway yan amount sufficient to permit only uniformly oriented fasteners to pass down said raceway, said abutment being engageable with improperly oriented fasteners, and means for directing a flow of air opposite to the direction of movement of the fasteners to remove said improperly oriented fasteners from engagement with said abutment.

4. In an apparatus for transferring headed fasteners and the like, an inclined raceway for supporting fasteners for downward sliding movement with their heads uniformly oriented with respect to each other, means for rejecting improperly oriented fasteners from said raceway including an abutment spaced above said raceway an amount sufficient to permit only uniformly oriented fasteners to pass down said raceway, said abutment having a surface disposed at an acute angle with said raceway and engageable with improperly oriented fasteners to deflect them out of said raceway, and means for directing a ow of air opposite to the direction of movement of the fasteners to remove said improperly oriented fasteners from engagement with said abutment.

5. In an apparatus for transferring headed fasteners and the like, an inclined raceway for supporting fasteners for downward sliding movement including a pair of spaced plates havingsurfaces engageable with the head of a fastener, means to deliver fasteners to the upper portion of the raceway whereupon they slide downwardly of the raceway supported by their heads with their shanks depending between said plates, and means to reject improperly oriented fasteners from said raceway comprising means to direct a blast of air intermittently upwardly between said raceway plates to dislodge fasteners not properly progressing downwardly thereof.

6. In an apparatus for transferring headed fasteners and the like, an inclined raceway for supporting fasteners for downward sliding movement including a pair of spaced plates having surfaces engageable with the head of a fastener, means to deliver fasteners to the upper `portion of the raceway whereupon they slide downwardly of the raceway supported by their heads with their Shanks depending between said plates, and means to reject improperly oriented fasteners from said raceway comprising means to direct a blast of air intermittently across and upwardly between said raceway plates to d-islodge improperly oriented fasteners therefrom.

7. In an apparatus for transferring headed fasteners and the like, an inclined raceway for supporting fasteners for downward sliding movement including a pair of spaced plates having surfaces engageable with the head of a fastener, means to deliver fasteners to the upper portion of the raceway whereupon they slide downwardly of the raceway supported by their heads with their shanks depending between said plates, and means to reject improperly oriented fasteners from said raceway comprising an abutment spaced above the lower portion of said raceway an amount sufficient to permit only properly oriented fasteners to pass therebeneath and having a surface engageable with improperly oriented fasteners to deect them out 4of said raceway, means providing an air passageway having an opening in communication with the space between the abutment and the raceway and disposed in a direction opposing the downward movement of said fasteners, and means for delivering an intermittent flow of air to said passageway. to disengage fasteners jammed in said raceway and engaged with said abutment.

8. In an appaartus for transferring headed fasteners and the like, an inclined raceway for supporting fasteners for downward sliding movement including a pair of spaced plates having surfaces engagea-ble with the head of a fastener, means to deliver fasteners to the upper port-ion of the raceway whereupon they slide downwardly of the raceway supported by their heads with their Shanks depending between said plates, and means to reject improperly oriented fasteners from said raceway comprising an abutment spaced above the lower portion of said 'raceway an Iaijaont suicient to permit only properly valve operated by said fastener delivery means for directoriented fasteners to pass therebeneath, said abutment ing an intermittent ow of air to said passageway.

having a surface engageabie with improperly oriented Y fasteners to deect them out of said raceway, means pro- References Cmd m me me of mls patent viding an air passageway having an opening in com- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS munication with the space between the abutment and 12,975 Terry May 29, 1855 the raceway and disposed in a direction opposing the 195,075 Ashworth Sept. 11, 1877 downward movement of said fasteners, means for deliver. 2,410,037 Abbott Oct. 29, 1946 ing air to said passageway to disengage fasteners jammed 2,560,737 Palmer July 17, 1951 

